Mary’s love of literature and reading was a hard-won passion. Long before being diagnosed with dyslexia, her parents and educators assumed her skills just were lower than they should have been. She was placed in the remedial reading group. Knowing she didn’t want to remain there, it became a mission to improve her skills.
During the summer between sixth and seventh grades, Mary was able to figure out ways to unlock the code to reading through phonics. Numerous trips to the library, finding a passionate tutor, grit, and determination all led Mary to developing fluidity, prosody, comprehension, and a burgeoning love for literature.
Throughout high school and college, Mary’s teachers led her to capture the joys, the nuances, and the messages rooted in not only our language system but also a love for communicating both through speech and with written word. A teacher challenged her to rise above the obstacles, immerse herself in the messages of books, and to find the messages within them. To this day, Mary does exactly that as she works to help other challenged learners find joy within the pages of a meaningful piece of prose.
You can connect with Mary on Instagram at instagram.com/MMcLaughlin or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/mary-mclaughlin.